Neeraj Singh, the 16-year-old athlete who lost his leg after falling off a moving train, has been flocked by well-wishers at the Kasturba Hospital, Wardha.

Neeraj Singh, the 16-year-old athlete who lost his leg after falling off a moving train, has been flocked by well-wishers at the Kasturba Hospital, Wardha.

Ironically, even though the incident occurred five days ago, on Friday, most of the visitors have turned up only after the incident received media coverage on Tuesday.

Singh, an Ambernath-based hammerthrow player, was returning from a sports meet in Ranchi, on the Shalimar Express. Wanting to charge his mobile phone, Singh found a charging point near the door. While trying to plug the charger in, Singh leaned against the door, which gave way. Singh injured his head, lost his balance and then fall on the tracks between Nagpur and Wardha. Singh then underwent a surgery wherein his leg was amputated.

Shiv Sena Member of Legislative Assembly, Balaji Kinikar, who is from Ambernath, and Sunil Choudhari, President, Ambernath Municipal Council, said he rushed to the hospital after getting news of the incident. “I heard of it from the media, and immediately spoke to the district chief MLA, Eknath Sinhde and Kinkar. Shinde ordered us to rush to the hospital and help the boy. We have given cash to the family and asked them to contact us if they need any help,” Choudhari said.

Kinikar said: “Besides medial help, we have decided to help him become independent.”

Many NGOs too approached the family, promising to help them. “ Choudhari and Kinikar came all the way to Ambernath and gave us Rs50,000 in cash,” said Dinesh Singh, the athlete’s father.